VICTORIA, Texas (AP) — The lawyer for a Texas police officer fired for using a stun gun on a 76-year-old man says there was "nothing unreasonable" about using that level of force during a traffic stop that was captured on dashboard camera video.
Robinson stopped Pete Vasquez for an expired vehicle inspection sticker, and video captured Robinson grabbing Vasquez's arm and pushing him onto the police cruiser.
A criminal investigation into the traffic stop was completed by the Texas Rangers, who turned their findings over to local prosecutors for review.

Evansville police discovered the videos after a 19-year-old man was arrested for trying to sell a handgun to an undercover officer.
Police say the mother told officers the girl was holding a pellet gun; investigators say it was a .40-caliber handgun.

For the first time in nearly 100 years, Girl Scouts of the USA will allow its young go-getters to push their wares using a mobile app or personalized websites.
There are important e-lessons here, scout officials said, such as better articulating and tracking goals, learning to handle customers and money in a new way, and more efficiently processing credit card information.
"A lot of people have asked, 'What took you so long to get online?' We spend a lot of time thinking how do we make this safe, scalable and smart," Kelly M. Parisi, chief communications executive for Girl Scouts of the USA, said at a recent demonstration for select media.
For web-based sales, scouts customize their pages, using their first names only, and email prospective customers with links to click on for orders.
The mobile platform offers tabs for tracking sales and allows for the sale of bundles of different kinds of cookies.
Girl Scouts use their cookie money to pay for community service work or troop activities such as camping and other trips.
[...] personal information is as protected as any digits out there, for both the scouts and customers, using encryption in some cases.

(AP) — A fire has destroyed one of two memorials at the site where 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.
Ferguson police spokesman Devin James says the cause of the fire is under investigation.

CROWLEY, Texas (AP) — Officers responding to a report of a suicide attempt found four people dead inside a North Texas home Sunday afternoon, police said.
Crowley Police Chief Luis Soler said in a news conference Sunday night that a 9-year-old who was inside the home called a relative and told her that a man there was injured after attempting to kill himself.
Soler said that officers found no indication of a forced entry and that the initial investigation suggests it was an isolated incident.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a solid annual rate of 3.5 percent in the July-September quarter, propelled by solid gains in business investment, export sales and the biggest jump in military spending in five years.
Analysts believe the economy is maintaining momentum in the current quarter, with a big fall in gas prices expected to bolster consumer spending.
Business spending on equipment grew at a 7.2 percent rate in the third quarter, and residential construction grew at a 1.8 percent rate.
Much of the optimism for the economy going forward stems from the strength of job growth, which has lowered the unemployment rate to a six-year low of 5.9 percent.
The additional workers should translate into more income and consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.
[...] they viewed the Fed's statement as a warning that if the economy strengthened more than expected in coming months, rate hikes could start occurring sooner than investors think.

Hundreds of theaters Thursday, from The Edge 8 in Greenville, Alabama, to Michael Moore's Bijou by the Bay in Traverse City, Michigan, made special holiday arrangements for the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"The Interview" became available on a variety of digital platforms Wednesday afternoon, including Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft's Xbox Video and a separate Sony website.
At Atlanta's Plaza Theater, a sell-out crowd Thursday hailed the film's release, washing down popcorn with beer and cocktails and uniting for a boisterous sing-along of "God Bless America" before the opening credits.
At the Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe, New Mexico, owned by "Game of Thrones" author George RR Martin, the schedule also includes the Spanish art-house release "Flamenco," the locally made "The Twilight Angel" and an Italian film festival.
The back story of "The Interview" has itself played out like a Hollywood satire, in which a cartoonish farce distracts from some of the holiday season's most prestigious films: "Selma," the drama about the 1965 civil rights march; Angelina Jolie's adaptation of the best-selling World War II story "Unbroken"; and the all-star, big-screen version of Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods."
[...] Darrell Foxworth, a special agent for the FBI in San Diego, said Wednesday the agency was sharing information with independent movie theater owners showing "The Interview" out of "an abundance of caution" and to educate them about cyber threats and what help the FBI can offer.
[...] the government should subsidize tickets to make that possible.

BURNET, Texas (AP) — An ex-CEO of some Oklahoma energy companies has been caught after escaping from a minimum security federal prison in Central Texas.
Morrisett is the former chief executive officer of Red Earth Resources Inc. and Alpine Petroleum LLC in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A trip through the double doors of the home, built in 1939, gives way to a three-story rotunda set off by a double staircase and crowned by a grand chandelier. [...] a trip throughout the rest of the house, which spans nearly 20,000 square feet, makes it feel like a normal home, with a cage of birds chirping in the sunlight and empty kennels for dogs who are out exercising. [...] when Hatton combed through the digital records of the Greenwich Multiple Listing Service, she found only five listings at or above $30 million since records have been kept electronically -- about 15 years ago. Originally built for $200,000 in 1939, it earned the distinction of the largest residential permit issued by Greenwich's building department that year. "There are very few properties like this, something with six acres on the water on a peninsula like this," said Lurie as she walked into a wood-paneled library on the first floor, where tall windows overlook a putting green and the still blue water of the harbor. "[...] a buyer needs to have the money," she said. "For 1998, that was a very big sale," said Lurie, who added the current owners immediately began a massive renovation, which includes a tennis court, as well as a 4,000-square-foot addition, built in 2000.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actress Daniele Watts, who appeared in "Django Unchained," is complaining that she was handcuffed and briefly put in the back of a squad car after a public display of affection with her white companion.
Brian Lucas told KCBS-TV in a joint interview with Watts that he suspects police mistook the black actress for a prostitute because he was asking me questions like, 'Who is she?
The Los Angeles Police Department said Sunday that officers detained the pair after a complaint that two people were "involved in indecent exposure" in a silver Mercedes.

NEW YORK (AP) — A brazen scheme in which guns — even an AK-47 rifle — were taken onto passenger jets for years in carry-on luggage was described by a Brooklyn prosecutor Tuesday as a terrorism threat that should cause the airline industry to end the practice of letting some workers enter airports without security screening.
Thompson's comment came as he described a case brought against five people, including an airline baggage handler who was charged a day earlier by federal authorities in Atlanta.
The prosecutor said Henry was given the guns, sometimes in airport restrooms, by Eugene Harvey, 31, an Atlanta baggage handler who worked for Delta before he was fired as a result of the investigation.
Investigators videotaped him in the Atlanta airport prior to a morning flight to Kennedy International Airport in New York, where he was videotaped leaving the airport and was followed to his residence in Brooklyn.
The prosecutor said investigators believe he has been transporting guns on planes for at least five years, using companion passes available because his mother had worked for airlines for years before retiring.
The Transportation Security Administration, which is responsible for screening airline passengers, said in a statement that it takes "potential for insider threats at airports very seriously."